Drawing pictures with a rock!

[Ronman]

Let’s see...a 5 or 6 year old child who is out of control in this day and age. SHOCKER!!! I’m sure the child was, “Just expressing himself!”

[Shalomyall]

A “bit” of negligence on the parents’ part? Surely you mean that this is severe negligence considering this would be considered a felony in most states. Destruction of property to the tune of $2500 is a felony. The parents should make payment arrangements immediately.

[chrisetmike]

I work with pre school kids and their parents daily. Some kids are wonderfull and some are brats. I also raised 3 boys. Being a parent is a hard job. Even when you try your best to decipline your kids, there are times when they missbehave. A 5 year old did not damage the trailer purposefully. He was probably bored or looking for attention.

The parents should be made to pay for the damage or purshase the damaged unit or another unit to recoup some of the cost of repairs. Mistakes happen but you also need to take responsibility for the mistake.

[StevenD]

I know this has now been thoroughly analyzed but,and I am old, I would think that the parents should have immediately assumed full responsibility. As in “We are terribly sorry this has happened and what can we do?” Regardless of who pays, this is still a significant inconvenience for the dealer. A perfectly good brand new trailer is now at least temporarily unsellable and their child caused the problem. Shame on the parents if they did not step up and remedy the situation. Maybe they expected their mom and dad to fix it for them!?!

[1931Cali]

I'm the sales guy who was there that day. (We are called adventure advisors &#128540 It was shocking to see the rock-drawn circles on the back of the 33. That being said, it happens all the time. I would say it happens 2-3 times a month. Thanks for stopping in that day, it helps when we have someone to share the pain of such things with 😉.

[turk123]

Originally Posted by 1931Cali

I'm the sales guy who was there that day. (We are called adventure advisors &#128540 It was shocking to see the rock-drawn circles on the back of the 33. That being said, it happens all the time. I would say it happens 2-3 times a month. Thanks for stopping in that day, it helps when we have someone to share the pain of such things with 😉.

What is happening with that trailer and the people that looked at it???

Thanks for sharing!

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by 1931Cali

I'm the sales guy who was there that day. (We are called adventure advisors [emoji12]) It was shocking to see the rock-drawn circles on the back of the 33. That being said, it happens all the time. I would say it happens 2-3 times a month. Thanks for stopping in that day, it helps when we have someone to share the pain of such things with [emoji6].

Well what do you do when this happens? At a rate of 2-3 times/month, you must be experts at resolving this kind of thing immediately.

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by vintageracer

The Police will not respond to an incident such as this as this incident occurred on Private Property, this incident was not criminal and there was no personal injury involved!

Not true at all. Most incidents do occur on private property.

[switz]

Sign by the entrance door in a pottery store in Nashville, Indiana:

Delightful to see
Beautiful to hold
If it slips trough your fingers
We consider it sold

Seems appropriate in this situation as well despite the coast difference.

[1931Cali]

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

Well what do you do when this happens? At a rate of 2-3 times/month, you must be experts at resolving this kind of thing immediately.

Most damage happens inside the unit, so it's hard to pinpoint the source. The dealership I work at is right off of one of the busiest highways in California, so we get a lot of curious people who aren't always interested in owning an Airstream.

This particular incident is still unresolved. That being said, since I have been here, I haven't seen a guest get confronted about damage.

[streaminwild]

Originally Posted by ShullsinUtah

"Excellent choice on the Classic 33. How much will you be putting down and how much will you be financing?"

x2 The kid chose the trailer for them. Option 2, Sell different trailer without discount, and fix damaged trailer. Option 3, Put damage on credit card . Option 4, Call police. Options 1 and 2 have positive outcomes for both parties. 3 and 4 not so much. Like most of us, they did research online before going to a lot. They knew exactly how much Airstreams cost. Mojo...you devil

[markdoane]

I'm way outside the bell curve on this one, but I think it's the cost of doing retail business.

It's built into the dealer's cost structure. Or should be.

What happens if a 5 year old throws up in the Walmart? Are you gonna sue the parents, or give them a mop?

[Etrax]

If I’m the dealer, I would figure it is cost of doing business. If I run a retail store and a customer knocks something over, they would not pay for it. This happens in retail all the time. People checking out trailers in a lot doesn’t usually translate into a sale (and nothing says they were looking at the Classic - they might have been in a Sport parked right next to it), so “he just picked out their trailer” is not realistic.

If I’m the parents, I offer to contribute to the repair.

Be careful in assuming the child is a “brat”. As the father of an autistic child who is now an adult, I know that keeping “control” over my child was not always possible. My son would melt down if Happy Birthday were sung in a restaurant. You should have seen the stares as we had to abort dinner. (He still to this day avoids the song). Now, would I take my son to an AS dealer if I could help it? No. However, my wife and I had to take him to the grocery and other stores out of necessity and it didn’t always go well, to say the least. So, don’t be too quick to make a judgement about the parenting skills. It very well might have been the case here, but who knows.

One last thing - how long would it take the kid to do this? 45 seconds? Raise your hand if your kid was never out of sight for less than 2 minutes. Not saying that was the case here, but we don’t have all the facts.

[75Bob]

I'm sorry if I sounded so cold hearted, but I don't think this is why we have insurance. I was a the president of a 750 home HOA when 3 10 year old boys threw rocks through the community club house windows. I had the police round them up with their fathers and return to the broken windows where I was waiting with pre-cut plexiglass that I had the fathers install while the boys looked on. This is the hard way to teach responsibility but then they can all move on and maybe teach a good work ethic. I think running to the insurance co. is like saying my little guy didn't mean to do anything wrong , it must have been the rocks fault or why did the AS co. leave so many rocks around. I just believe that a child's behavior is a direct refection of the parents parenting skills. Some felt bad for the kid, the parents or the agent. I felt bad for the trailer.

[1931Cali]

Originally Posted by Etrax

If I’m the dealer, I would figure it is cost of doing business. If I run a retail store and a customer knocks something over, they would not pay for it. This happens in retail all the time. People checking out trailers in a lot doesn’t usually translate into a sale (and nothing says they were looking at the Classic - they might have been in a Sport parked right next to it), so “he just picked out their trailer” is not realistic.

If I’m the parents, I offer to contribute to the repair.

Be careful in assuming the child is a “brat”. As the father of an autistic child who is now an adult, I know that keeping “control” over my child was not always possible. My son would melt down if Happy Birthday were sung in a restaurant. You should have seen the stares as we had to abort dinner. (He still to this day avoids the song). Now, would I take my son to an AS dealer if I could help it? No. However, my wife and I had to take him to the grocery and other stores out of necessity and it didn’t always go well, to say the least. So, don’t be too quick to make a judgement about the parenting skills. It very well might have been the case here, but who knows.

One last thing - how long would it take the kid to do this? 45 seconds? Raise your hand if your kid was never out of sight for less than 2 minutes. Not saying that was the case here, but we don’t have all the facts.

Hi Etrax. I just wanted to reach out and respond to this. I have experience with autistic children. If you did ever want to bring your child into an Airstream dealership, I would be happy to show you and your family around. I understand certain stimuli can upset him, and I would be prepared for it, and happy to accommodate you all.

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by 75Bob

I'm sorry if I sounded so cold hearted, but I don't think this is why we have insurance. I was a the president of a 750 home HOA when 3 10 year old boys threw rocks through the community club house windows. I had the police round them up with their fathers and return to the broken windows where I was waiting with pre-cut plexiglass that I had the fathers install while the boys looked on. This is the hard way to teach responsibility but then they can all move on and maybe teach a good work ethic. I think running to the insurance co. is like saying my little guy didn't mean to do anything wrong , it must have been the rocks fault or why did the AS co. leave so many rocks around. I just believe that a child's behavior is a direct refection of the parents parenting skills. Some felt bad for the kid, the parents or the agent. I felt bad for the trailer.

For whatever it’s worth - I agree completely the parents should pay for the damages directly. I’m not judging the parents for missing the action, or the child whether autistic or not. I’m simply saying, the parents should be responsible for any damage their 5 year old child causes. The only reason I mentioned insurance is if the cost of the repair was more than the parents could afford, they could possibly take care of that debt to the dealer through their liability protection - accidents do happen.

I do not believe the dealer should use their insurance policy for this for reasons I stated elsewhere.

[J. Morgan]

Some people are buttholes and it often carries through to their kids. It’s just that simple.

I met a lot of buttholes on the road on my thousand mile trip yesterday.

[Foiled Again]

Originally Posted by jimfa440

When we were kids and did something wrong, we got a good ole arse whoopin. That might even work these days.

Or... coach your kids immediately before any new or strange activity. And respect their short attention spans by listening for warning.signs. The whole congregation will crack up when a child yells, "Mommy I gotta go potty! But if the kid has been shushed for tugging her sleeve and trying to use his inside voice.. uh duh.



The problems with a good ole arse whoopin it threefold.

1. All too often it is done by a furious parent... the child ends up knowing that.he has done Something wrong, but what was it? How serious? What should he have done instead? lost between the parent's rage and the child's terror?

2. Lack of "proportional response" the punishment bears NO resemblence to the severity of the offense. At age 3-4 I played with about a dozen kids that ran loose together. One day I went home and in total innocence said to my mother, "What is a N*****? Joe says Tyrone is a N*****.
I was grabbed by the hair, thrown acroas the kitchen, slammed into and under the kitchen faucet and given the classic "wash the mouth out with soap, then go stand im the corner and think about what you've done. An hour or so later I learned what the bad word meant...

Learned a lesson? Eventually:

Parents cannot be perfect... marine basic training is a walk in the park compared to being a parent. Bootcamp will end in a few months, parenting feels like a life sentence.

Most parents do whatever their own parents did, even when they swore they never would... because they never learned or practiced doing anything ELSE.



But I turned out OK, Right? Actually YES, I am generally happy and at peace with myself, but I was pushing 35 before that was normal.

Generations in my extended family paid a heavy price for "good whompins" Five sisters produced only 8 cousins in total.
Three of us chose never to have children when we were in our early teens, two others were also childless but kept silent as to why. Only 3 had small, but normal families - thanks to finding remarkable spouses and working at being parents with both humility and kind of ferocious intensity.

Best family story ever? At a reunion, One of the "normal" cousins was on the verge of losing it in a classic family rage, stopped and said to her child between clenched teeth, "I am giving MYSELF a time out. I am too angry to discipline You now. Go away - quickly!" She stood facing the corner for 15 minutes. Then did a teaching moment.

The assembled aunts immediately stuck their oars in and opined that the brat deserved a good whipping.
No one died that day,
The most pithy comment? Mom, I bought a dual plot when dad died, and every time i visit his grave, I dance on yours.

--------------
A six year old knows it takes money to buy a popsicle, and maybe should have some sense that art belongs on blackboards.

Coach your kids.

[delongj]

"If you were the dealer, what would you do at this point?" was the original question.

As we near CHRISTMAS, why not forget about the sins of the world and move toward waiting for the original poster of this question to let us know how the problem was resolved? May all of us be blessed as we move into the last stretch of sharing and giving; and really being happy for what we have - especially for these Airstreams! Merry Christmas and may God richly BLESS all who are in the Christmas spirit!

[75Bob]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

Or... coach your kids immediately before any new or strange activity. And respect their short attention spans by listening for warning.signs. The whole congregation will crack up when a child yells, "Mommy I gotta go potty! But if the kid has been shushed for tugging her sleeve and trying to use his inside voice.. uh duh.



The problems with a good ole arse whoopin it threefold.

1. All too often it is done by a furious parent... the child ends up knowing that.he has done Something wrong, but what was it? How serious? What should he have done instead? lost between the parent's rage and the child's terror?

2. Lack of "proportional response" the punishment bears NO resemblence to the severity of the offense. At age 3-4 I played with about a dozen kids that ran loose together. One day I went home and in total innocence said to my mother, "What is a N*****? Joe says Tyrone is a N*****.
I was grabbed by the hair, thrown acroas the kitchen, slammed into and under the kitchen faucet and given the classic "wash the mouth out with soap, then go stand im the corner and think about what you've done. An hour or so later I learned what the bad word meant...

Learned a lesson? Eventually:

Parents cannot be perfect... marine basic training is a walk in the park compared to being a parent. Bootcamp will end in a few months, parenting feels like a life sentence.

Most parents do whatever their own parents did, even when they swore they never would... because they never learned or practiced doing anything ELSE.



But I turned out OK, Right? Actually YES, I am generally happy and at peace with myself, but I was pushing 35 before that was normal.

Generations in my extended family paid a heavy price for "good whompins" Five sisters produced only 8 cousins in total.
Three of us chose never to have children when we were in our early teens, two others were also childless but kept silent as to why. Only 3 had small, but normal families - thanks to finding remarkable spouses and working at being parents with both humility and kind of ferocious intensity.

Best family story ever? At a reunion, One of the "normal" cousins was on the verge of losing it in a classic family rage, stopped and said to her child between clenched teeth, "I am giving MYSELF a time out. I am too angry to discipline You now. Go away - quickly!" She stood facing the corner for 15 minutes. Then did a teaching moment.

The assembled aunts immediately stuck their oars in and opined that the brat deserved a good whipping.
No one died that day,
The most pithy comment? Mom, I bought a dual plot when dad died, and every time i visit his grave, I dance on yours.

--------------
A six year old knows it takes money to buy a popsicle, and maybe should have some sense that art belongs on blackboards.

Coach your kids.

Well said